"Get past the outside. That's not me. I'm in here." I put my hand to my heart. "Mom." My eyes watered, blurring my vision.

She moved closer, looking deep in my eyes. "Jodi?"

"Yes, it's me."

Her arms were around me a second later. I wasn't sure if she truly believed it was me or if she was just desperate to believe it was true. Either way, it felt amazing to be in her arms.

Matt walked past us, smiling at me. He placed three cups of tea on the table and sat down, waiting for us.

I tried to pull away, but Mom kept her grasp on my arms. "It's really you." It wasn't a question this time.

Matt motioned to Mom's chair. "This is a lot to take in. Maybe you should sit down and have some tea, Ms. Marshall."

I walked Mom back to her seat. She didn't take her eyes off me. "Tell me more, but go slowly."

I nodded and took a deep breath. Where had I left off? "Like I said, Alex took me to meet other people like me. That's where I met Dad. He's buried in the cemetery at the school."

"Is he-was he like you?"

"Yes. He was an Ophi, too. That's why he had to leave. We don't come into our powers until we're around sixteen or seventeen. It's different for some people. But once our powers come out, we're dangerous to humans...and animals." I remembered the deer. I could start there.

"The rabid deer," Mom said, beating me to it. "That was the one you hit with your car, wasn't it?"

"Yes. I bled on it, and it came back to life. Only I didn't know how to use my powers yet at that point, and what I raised was a mindless zombie deer."

"The nurse at school?"

I nodded. "I killed her with my tears when she checked me out after the car accident." I didn't want to run through the entire list, so I jumped ahead to the most important one. "You died when you touched the cut on my hand. You wanted to prove your blood was the same as mine, but it wasn't anymore. Alex saved you."

"And then you were gone." She sipped her tea, obviously needing time to process all this.

I drank my tea in two big gulps.

"You still haven't learned to enjoy your tea, have you?" Mom's mouth curved into a small smile. She'd always told me I drank tea all wrong.

"It tastes better hot," we said at the same time.

A tear fell from her eyes. If she hadn't been convinced I was her daughter before, she was now.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I thought you ran off with that boy. I thought you were so distraught over Matt's death that you couldn't deal with things around here anymore."

All of that was true. "I couldn't tell you sooner because I didn't have a handle on my powers yet. The only reason I'm here now is because I'm human. Alex and the others are trapped in the underworld with Hades."

Mom opened her mouth to talk, but I held up one finger to stop her.

"Yes, that Hades. He doesn't like the Ophi because we take his souls from the afterlife. He wanted to take all our souls and end the Ophi line with me. My body is still there."

"In h.e.l.l?"

"The underworld is actually broken up into three different places. Tartarus, which is h.e.l.l. The Elysian Fields, which is Heaven. And the Fields of Asphodel, which is where most people end up and roam around, not happy or sad."

"Where is your body?" Of course she'd ask that.

"It goes back and forth between working for Hades at the palace, escorting souls to their afterlives, and..."

"Oh, G.o.d." Mom raised her hand to her mouth.

"I'm okay, Mom. I raised my human soul. Well, really it was the human part of my soul. I can tune out the underworld and what's going on there."

"You aren't dangerous to me now? Does that mean you can stay?"

I wanted to. "No. I have to save the others like me, and I can't leave my Ophi half down there, either. It's being tortured. Sooner or later, the pain will be too much for me to tune out anymore." I wasn't sure if that was entirely true, but I was willing to bet Hades would make it true once he found out what I'd done.

"How are you going to save yourself and the others?"

"I have to go back to the school. Medusa's spirit is there. She's sort of my ancestor."

"Your what?" Mom's eyes practically bugged out of her head.

"I know. Crazy, right? But she's really nice. All those myths about her being mean, they aren't true. She was cursed. Before that, she was beautiful. And she cares about the Ophi. We're all her children in a way, because her blood is what gave us our powers."

Mom didn't look like she was breathing. "So, she's wandering around at that school?"

"No. Her spirit is trapped in a statue there, but I can connect to the statue and communicate with her. At least, I could when I had my Ophi powers. I'm not sure what it will do to me now."

Mom reached across the table. "Don't do anything that might hurt you. I lost you once. I can't do it again."

"Neither can I." Matt reached for my other hand. Neither of them was going to make this easy on me.

"I'm going to talk to some Ophi who are still here first and make sure I'll be okay." If Mason even knew what the statue would do to a human.

Mom squeezed my hand. "How long can you stay?"

"Matt wants to see his family, make sure they're okay."

Matt let go of my hand and finished his tea. "We should go soon."

"You aren't going to explain all this to them, are you?" Mom looked at Matt this time.

He shrugged. "Maybe. I mean, you believed Jodi. Why wouldn't my parents believe me?"

Mom sighed. "Your parents buried you, Matt. I'm not sure they'd be able to handle this."

"And I'm not sure I want that many people knowing the truth about me. It's too risky." I hated doing this to him. I mean, I'd told my mom everything, but I was telling him he couldn't be honest with his parents.

Mom finally let go of me. "You could stay here if you want."

"What?" Matt and I asked in unison.

"This place is too big for one person, and I'm guessing Jodi won't be staying here long. You're going back to your Ophi people as soon as you figure out how to save them, right?" She was doing her best to understand, and I loved her for it.

I nodded, looking down at my empty cup. It hurt too much to look at either of them, knowing I was hurting them both.

"All right, then. Having Matt around will remind me of you. It would make things a little easier, so really it would be helping both of us."

Matt looked at me, trying to see what I thought of the idea.

I shrugged. "I think you should do it. You could stay in town and keep an eye on your family."

"I could tell everyone that you're my nephew," Mom said. "We could even invite your parents over for dinner every now and then so you could spend time with them."

Matt had always been sensitive in a tough guy way. I'd never seen him tear up. Not once, but his tough exterior couldn't handle this. "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll stay." I reached over, placing my hand on top of his. "I'd feel better knowing Mom's not alone, that you're not alone. I love you both." I did. On some level, I loved Matt.

He squeezed my hand. "Okay. I'll stay."

I knew he'd been waiting for me to say I loved him, and this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind, but he was going to take it anyway.

Matt couldn't take his own life back, so I was giving him mine.

Chapter 17.

We sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to do next. I knew Matt was going to get my room. The house only had two bedrooms. Of course, he didn't have any stuff to move in or anything, and I wasn't about to ask Mom for money. She'd always struggled to make ends meet.

"We'll have to find a job for you," I said to Matt. Since he had no ID, birth certificate, or anything, we'd have to hope for finding someone who'd pay him off the books, which wouldn't be easy. "And you can't call yourself Matt, either."

"Should I use this guy's name?" He held his hands up, looking at Brian's body.

Liz and Brian had lived four hours away, and it wasn't like Matt would be using Brian's last name. It could work.

"It's up to you. You could even name yourself if you want."

"Hmm." He drummed his fingers on the table as he thought.

Mom gave me a weak smile. She was handling all of this really well. Offering to give Matt a home, even temporarily, was more than I could've hoped for. Leaving wasn't going to be easy, but knowing Mom and Matt had each other made things almost bearable.

"Tyler." Matt nodded. "It's my middle name. Using it will make me feel more like me."

"I like it."

"Me too," Mom said, wrinkling her brow as she made a mental note of the name. Slip-ups couldn't happen.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. We'd been here all afternoon. "We should get going. Serpentarius is opening soon, and I want to get there before the crowd."

"Wait." Mom reached for my arm. "You both must be starving. Let me make you some dinner before you go hunting down information."

Matt was already drooling.

"Mom, we can grab something at the club. Really. Don't worry about it." I didn't want to impose on her any more than we already had.

"Nonsense. Come on, we can cook together just like old times." She was already heading to the refrigerator and taking out carrots. She hesitated and looked at me around the door. "You did say you're human now, right? You can't, you know..."

Yeah, I knew. "Totally human. In this body anyway."

"Good. Then slice up the carrots and get them cooking while I fix us some steaks and mashed potatoes."

I walked over to her and lowered my voice. "Where did you get the money for all this?"

She lowered her eyes as she put the steaks on the counter. "I don't have anyone to support anymore. It's just me. I was going to invite the neighbors over, just for some company, but this is much better."

She was going to invite the Sandersons to dinner? Things really were bad. I got started on the carrots, and Matt helped Mom with the grill. In no time, the house smelled delicious. I hadn't realized how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten at all in the underworld, and since coming back, I'd been too busy to think about food. Other than the tea, Liz's stomach was completely empty.

We ate dinner almost like a normal family. Mom kept smiling at me, but every once in a while she'd glance at the clock, and then her smile would fade. She knew we had time constraints. I tried to eat quickly without seeming like I was rushing to get out of there, but really, I was. I needed to talk to Mason. I had to let him know I was here and that I needed some information in order to save the others. He must be missing Carol like crazy.

I cleared our plates and loaded them into the dishwasher. Mom leaned against the counter with a dishtowel in her hand. Our eyes met, and she started crying.

"Mom, don't do that." My voice was shaking already. I'd be sobbing with her in a matter of seconds.

"I'm sorry. It's just that I didn't think I'd ever see you again, and even though you don't look like yourself anymore, I can still see you inside. I don't know how I didn't see it right away. I'm sorry it took me so long to believe you."

Long? She'd handled it really well. "You've been amazing." I hugged her and rubbed her back. "If you don't mind, can Matt and I stay here until I-?"

"For as long as you need. The longer the better, as far as I'm concerned. You can bunk with me."

I couldn't help laughing. There was the mom I was used to. The one who made sure I kept my distance from boys. "I'm with Alex, Mom, not Matt, but I'd love to bunk with you. It'll be like a sleepover."

"Good, because you're still my daughter, which means I make the rules here." Mom turned to Matt, who was putting the steak sauce back in the fridge. "That goes for you, too. I get that you're almost eighteen, but this is my house, so you're going to have to follow my rules."

"Yes, ma'am." Matt nodded. "I'm just happy you're letting me stay. I plan to get a job and help out around here. I won't be a problem at all."

"Well, I guess we should go." I wanted to run upstairs to my room and put on clothes that were actually mine, but Liz's body would drown in them. I did grab the little money I had stashed in my desk drawer. We wouldn't get into Serpentarius without paying the cover charge.

Mom pulled me in for another hug, squeezing me like she was afraid that, once I walked out that door, I'd never come back. This couldn't have been easy for her. I was asking her to accept so much without any proof at all.

"I love you, Mom," I whispered before I pulled away. "We'll be back later tonight."

She blinked back tears. "Not too late."

It was great to see glimpses of how things used to be.